FORT WASHINGTON, Md. (WUSA) -- After nearly 8 hours of digging,
investigators have removed the body from a 20 foot deep well. A tipster
brought investigators to the 11900 block of Old Fort Road near Flagship
Avenue in Fort Washington on Thursday.

The well can be found along a windy, dirt path on vacant property far from the main road.

Raquel Newton lives nearby, "You just driver up and down the road and
you don't even know what's back there. In order for him to be back there
someone had to know that well is there."

The discovery of the body has shaken residents such as Kevin Gormes.

"It's scary you know, 'cause we live in a nice neighborhood."

Digging that far down on a crime scene is a delicate and complicated process.
One, that Andrew Dantos has been tasked to do but had never experienced before.

"It was an unusual call to say the least. We are going straight through
the top around the well, five feet at a time. We shore it up and go
another five feet that way."

On Saturday afternoon, forensics investigators dressed in hazmat gear
descended to the bottom of the well to take evidence, pictures and
remove the body.

Prince George's County Police don't know how long the body has been
there or who it is, but questions remain if it is that of 53-year-old
missing activist Lenwood (Lenny) Harris from Alexandria.

He went missing in September. His phone was found on the Wilson Bridge not far from the well.

Gormes says, "I don't want to know just want to know my family is good."

A tip brought investigators here earlier this week as officers scoured every inch of the property.

The case stands as a death investigation Saturday, that has now become the first of its kind in the region.

Julie Parker, Prince George's County Public Information Officer, "No one
in the DC area in recent memory can think of a time when they've had to
do a recovery from a well. Prince George's County Police are creating a
case study of how to remove a body from a well."